Story Poster
Jim Schlossnagle
Jacob Palisch
Nathan Dettmer
Troy Claunch
Texas A&M Baseball

Dettmer & Palisch shine on the mound as Ags outlast No. 4 Hogs, 2-1

April 23, 2022
10,413

Game #37: Texas A&M 2, No. 4 Arkansas 1
Records: Texas A&M (24-13, 9-7), Arkansas (30-8, 11-5)
WP: Nathan Dettmer (4-2)
LP: Connor Noland (5-2)
Save: Jacob Palisch (2)
Box Score


Great pitching beats good hitting every time, but it apparently can also beat the wind.

Behind brilliance from both Nathan Dettmer and Jacob Palisch, Texas A&M took Friday night's series opener from No. 4 Arkansas at Olsen Field, 2-1. In an old-fashioned pitcher's duel, Dettmer and Palisch combined for 14 strikes to hold down the Razorback offense.

"Certainly, it was an offensive night with the wind blowing the way it was, but you had just elite pitching," Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said.

TexAgs
Dettmer struck out seven over five innings, allowing one run on three hits.

As the reigning SEC's Pitcher of the Week, Dettmer cruised through five innings despite lacking dominant fastball command.

"I don't know why I was pitching like I was 5-foot tall," the 6-foot-4 Dettmer said of his recent turnaround. "It's all mental. I just decided to throw my stuff in the zone and lower the walks. It's all confidence."

The Aggies scored their only runs in the fourth, capitalizing on a Cayden Wallace throwing error to plate two unearned markers. Troy Claunch's RBI single broke the ice and accounted for one of A&M's two hits on the night as starter Connor Noland and left-handed reliever Evan Taylor cooled the red-hot Aggie offense.

"We've had really good offense lately, but it's awesome to see that we can do both," Claunch said. "Winning a game like that with two hits takes a lot of grit, and I think we showed grit in the box and showed grit on the mound today."

Arkansas mustered just two base runners against Dettmer in the first five frames before the Hogs got the first two men aboard in the sixth. With Dettmer behind Brady Slavens, Schlossnagle made his only pitching change of the night.

"Dettmer has been pretty consistent," Schlossnagle said. "He didn't have great stuff tonight, but Palisch was outstanding."

Assuming the 2-0 count, Palisch got Slavens to fly out before punching out Chris Lanzilli. However, Michael Turner dumped a two-out single to right for Arkansas' only run of the contest.

TexAgs
Jacob Palisch put in four innings of scoreless relief work to pick up his second save, striking out seven along the way.

The Hogs threatened again in the seventh, but after allowing the first two men to reach, Palisch struck out both Zack Gregory and Peyton Stovall before getting Slavens to fly out to end the inning, wiggling out of a bases-loaded jam.

"He's a fifth-year senior who's a strike-thrower, so you're not afraid to bring him in in a 2-0 count," Schlossnagle said. "Not the most ideal, but you're also not afraid to have him pitch with the bases loaded and two outs."

Leading 2-1 after eight, Schlossnagle faced a decision.

"We don't have a defined closer, necessarily," Schlossnagle admitted. "So I was going back and forth in the ninth whether to bring Brad (Rudis) in or let Palisch finish it.

"What I didn't want to have happen was let Robert Moore get one into the wind, and I told myself going into the night that I was going to make him hit left-handed with the wind blowing out to left."

However, he elected to keep the lefty Palisch in the game, allowing Moore to bat right-handed.

On the first pitch, Moore hit a fastball well that Dylan Rock caught on the warning track for the first out of the ninth, nearly tying the game.

"I went against it, and we got lucky because he was on that baseball," Schlossnagle said with a smile. "It had just a little bit of topspin and didn't get out of the ballpark. When he hit that ball, I almost quit."

"Certainly, it was an offensive night with the wind blowing the way it was, but you had just elite pitching.”
- A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle

Palisch closed out the rare four-inning save, sending the 6,972 fans into a frenzy and earning Schlossnagle a well-earned Pringle.

The win comes in stark contrast to the Aggies’ stout slugging offense showcased in recent weeks.

"Good teams find ways to win in a variety of ways," Schlossnagle said.

Texas A&M and Arkansas return to Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park on Saturday afternoon as Micah Dallas takes the mound at 2:02 p.m. CT with the Aggies looking for the series victory.

Discussion from...

Dettmer & Palisch shine on the mound as Ags outlast No. 4 Hogs, 2-1

6,543 Views | 3 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by TheChameleon
DeadCiv
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AG
Oh no! Schloss is considering retirement!! /texags
Divining Rod
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Damn. fine. coach.
TheChameleon
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AG
What a way to start the series.... Hat tip to Dettmer and Palisch. Those guys were outstanding. Awesome position to be in now going forward into the toughest part of their schedule vs Arkansas & @ Vandy... And they begin that with a W. Exactly how you draw it up and this series is now very winnable. The crowd was fantastic and I believe absolutely played a role in getting this win.

Dettmer had great stuff... He's got a turbo sinker. Threw a couple that were big league caliber. That 97 in the first with that amount of sink... That's next level stuff. It's awesome to see the development from him. Slider was sharp, didn't throw many changeups if any but he didn't need it. Excellent start against a very good lineup and he's a bona fide Friday guy in this league now. Palisch was phenomenal. Was dotting everything, had all 3 pitches working. Getting a 4 inning save in that type of game is just big time. What an addition he's been... Obviously he can't start Sunday now but that really doesn't matter since they got the win last night.

The offense struggled but did just enough with the two run inning.... Noland was decent but we were a little off also... Thought we might've guessed a bit too much against him. Overall a few too many good pitches to hit in the zone were taken... I'm sure we'll come out aggressive today & put up a good hit total. Honestly I'm not in love with Minnich at leadoff, he's an awesome hitter but I prefer Kaler or Rock there, I'm a little confused why when Werner plays Kaler is moved out of leadoff... Either way all the same guys are in there though so the talent is on the field.

Massive win to start this tough back to back weekend stretch, credit to this team for finding a way to win... Like Schloss said, it's always impressive to be able to win in different ways- that's what good teams do. Can play multiple styles and adapt... Extremely confident in Dallas today, he had a normal full week of rest and this was his role going in game 2 early in the year. Big chance to win the series outright, we've dropped a couple game 2's but feel like we're going to flip the script on that today. Keep it going on the mound, defensively and maybe a few early runs... Crowd should be electric again also. This team is legit.
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